Vietnam to ban social media from sharing news online

Social media users will not be allowed to "to quote information from newspapers".

Loic Venance: AFP

Vietnam will ban bloggers and social media users from sharing news stories online, under a new decree signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Blogs or social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter should only be used "to provide and exchange personal information", according to the decree.

The document, made public on Wednesday, stipulates that internet users should not use social networks to share or exchange information on current events.

Social media users will not be allowed "to quote general information... information from newspapers, press agencies or other state-owned websites", said Hoang Vinh Bao, head of the Department of Radio, TV and Electronic Information.

It is not clear how the law - which comes into effect in September - will be implemented or what the penalties will be.

The law also bans internet service providers from making available "information that is against Vietnam, undermining national security, social order and national unity... or information distorting, slandering and defaming the prestige of organisations, honour and dignity of individuals".

Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Le Nam Thang, said the new rules aim to help internet users "find correct and clean information on the internet," the VietnamNet online newspaper reported.

The communist country, branded an "enemy of the Internet" by Reporters Without Borders in 2013, bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run.

Many citizens prefer to use social media and blogs to get their information rather than the state press.

But the authoritarian government has repeatedly attempted to stifle growing online debate in what rights groups say is an escalating crackdown on freedom of expression.

This year to date 46 activists have been convicted of anti-state activity and sentenced to often lengthy jail terms under what rights groups say are vaguely defined articles of the penal code.

At least three bloggers were also taken into custody in June alone, all accused of anti-state activity.